Latch



(No Model.)

v W. O. HOGABOOM.

LATCH.

No. 551,490. Patented Dec. 1?, 1895;

('1 WITNEEEEE: F 71 lNvENmR 3m 4 a jaw; Lk Y y UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE,

\VILLIAM ORAN HOGABOOM, OF SOMERYYILLE, MASSACHUSETTS,

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551 ,490, dated December 17, 1895.

Application filed July 12, 1893. Serial No. 480,310- (No model.)

To all 1071,0722, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ORAN H OGA- BOOM, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in Latches or Fasteners for Bookcases, Document-Cases, and the Like, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

It is the objectof the invention to provide a gravity-drop latch that may be connected with the central standard of a bookcase, refrigerator, cupboard, or other article, and be operated from one side of the standard or partition to unlatch a door on the other side with which the latch is connected.

It is also the object of the invention to pro vide a latch which may hold the door centrally of its upper and lower ends so as to avoid warping of the door as is sometimes the case with doors where the fastener is at the bottom or top.

It is also the object of the invention to pro vide such improvements in door-latches as will enhance their serviceability generally, all as I will now proceed to describe and claim,

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved latch detached. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lift, showing the manner of its connection with the pivot bar or pin. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a chest or case equipped with my improvements, a part of the doors and center partition or standard being shown broken away, the better to illustrate the construction and mode of operation of the invention. Fig. el is a plan view of the invention, its connections being shown in section.

In the diawings, a is the latch or catch consisting of a bar or piece of metal having a hook or catch (1 formed on the forward end capable of engaging a staple c or equivalent device. Projecting laterally from the inner end of the latch (I. is a pivot pin or bar (Z, which may be an integral part of the latch or made separate therefrom and be suitably connected therewith. The free end of the pivot-pin is squared, as at 6, so as to fit a square hole or mortise formed through the inner end of the lift f, which consists of a bar of metal substantially the same in length as the latch a. At its forward end the lift is preferably provided with a latcrally-projecting lip or flange g to permit of its ready manipulation. A screw h is tapped into the end of the pivot pin or bar and its head is brought to bear against the inner end of the lift to hold it in place on the said pivot-pin.

i designates a bushing which may be arranged around the pivot-pin and form the immediate bearing therefor.

In use the bushing i may be arranged in the central standard or partition, or it may be in any other suitable support, the pin passed through the bushing, and the lift secured in place on the end of the pin by means of the screw 71, and a staple or other device connected with one of the doors so that the catch 1) can engage therewith, as shown in Fi and at. \Vith this construction it will be seen that the door which is engaged by the latch maybe secured by the latter so that it cannot be opened or tampered with from the outside save when the other door, which may be provided with a lock, is opened, and the latch may be released by taking hold of the lift and raising it, as will be readily understood without further description.

A gage-plate having laterally-extending flanges at its upper and lower ends, may be secured to the central partition at the side of the lift so as to limit the upward and downward movements of the lift.

It will be understood that the latch and lift may be reversed in position with reference to the sides of the central partition on which they are shown in the drawings, and that if their positions were changed the lip on the lift would project from the other side from that shown in the drawings.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way of construct ing and using the same, though without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, it is declared that what is claimed is In a fastening device for book-cases with double doors, the combination with a hooked latch proper mounted on the inner side of said partition and having a cylindrical pivot pin integral therewith passing through the partition and provided with a square end, a bushing rigidly mounted in the partition and through which the cylindrical portion of the pivot pin passes, a handle or lift having a square aperture to receive the square end of the pivot pin and also having a laterally projecting lip or flange, and a screw for securing the lift or handle on the pivot pin, of a staple secured to the door to be fastened and adapted to engage and hold the hooked end of the latch, and a gage plate having laterally projecting flanges at its upper and lower ends to limit the upward and downward movements of the lift.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 1st day of July, A. D. 1893.

WILLIAM ORAN HOGA'BOOIVI. lVitnesses:

HoLLIs R. BAILEY, J. C. JOSEPH FLAMAND. 

